Hey SAM,

I read alot (maybe I should get out more but I'm very particular about my company). One of my favorite things to read are acting books and industry related biographies. They always give these stark, dire statistics like:

"Less than 10% of SAG actors earn more than $5000 a year." They have these messages like, yeah you'll be eating PB&J but think of the emotional fulfillment.

It's easy to blow off the ignorant and uninformed, but man! These are people in the biz!

It seems to me that with all the growth in the industry from Chaplin to TV to Cable to webisodes this is a grim and outdated perception. A very good friend that I met doing a play has a great hustle going, booking work in DC, Philly, and NYC (so refreshing to have someone in my life who doesn't think I'm a total nut job). She owns her own house! Pays her own car note! All this on acting alone! The acting middle class is growing.

What's your take on the state of the working actor today?

http://more.showfax.com/bbs2/viewtopic.php?t=6255&highlight=

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/may/16/entertainment/et-actor16

Read this thread and article. I disagree with you 100%. I believe the middle class working actor has all but disappeared; but it will be interesting to see SAM's take.

Lonni - I wish I could agree with you but nothing could be further from the truth. CSilvera is 100% right. The middle class actor is feeling a lot of pain these days. I'm glad your friend is hustling like crazy and scoring enough work to make a decent living. But that story is far from the norm.

Here in Hollywood, the middle class is slowly disappearing. Stars and name actors are doing just fine. Yes, it's true that some star salaries have dropped a bit but these people are still earning a significant amount of money compared to the typical performer who spends more time auditioning than acting. And on the other end of the food chain, day players - the worker bees of our industry - will always find work. But the middle class actor is being squeezed in a major way.

Why is this? There are a lot of reasons. Rising production costs with less returns is part of the problem. Reality TV is also a factor. Another growing issue is the way AFTRA is selling out their membership to steal contracts away from SAG. And the list goes on and on...

The bottom line is that there have always been more actors than roles and that will never change. The good news is that yes, thanks to new media and other product, there are new and exciting ways for actors to pursue their careers - but no one's getting rich doing this stuff. At least not yet.

So to answer your question, the acting middle class is not growing. The only thing growing - especially this year - is the list of umeployed actors who cannot find mainstream work that allows them to pay the bills.

(And yet, Matthew McConaghy continues to find work...)

quote:

Originally posted by Secret Agent Man:
Lonni - I wish I could agree with you but nothing could be further from the truth. CSilvera is 100% right. The middle class actor is feeling a lot of pain these days. I'm glad your friend is hustling like crazy and scoring enough work to make a decent living. But that story is far from the norm.

Here in Hollywood, the middle class is slowly disappearing. Stars and name actors are doing just fine. Yes, it's true that some star salaries have dropped a bit but these people are still earning a significant amount of money compared to the typical performer who spends more time auditioning than acting. And on the other end of the food chain, day players - the worker bees of our industry - will always find work. But the middle class actor is being squeezed in a major way.

Why is this? There are a lot of reasons. Rising production costs with less returns is part of the problem. Reality TV is also a factor. Another growing issue is the way AFTRA is selling out their membership to steal contracts away from SAG. And the list goes on and on...

so should I hold off on getting my aftra card? There are a few things in DC I want to audition for but require me to get it and I wanted to become SAG eligible in the next year to keep up with my 5 year plan.

Do not go union until you MUST. Seriously.

I did a must-join straight out of college. And I'm not saying I would have not done that part because what work I have done came out of the events after that, but I did pretty much feel like I HAD to move to NYC once that run was out(I was in DC too until then, getting work). The people I know who play the same parts I play nonunion work constantly in that market, and whereas I get paid more WHEN I work, it's a lot harder to get that work.

That's my soapbox, and I have never heard anyone who is informed on the topic say anything to contradict it. You can always get Taft-Hartleyed into something and not join, you can never un-join unless you're quitting the biz for good.

quote:

Originally posted by ellennyc:
Do not go union until you MUST. Seriously.

I did a must-join straight out of college. And I'm not saying I would have not done that part because what work I have done came out of the events after that, but I did pretty much feel like I HAD to move to NYC once that run was out(I was in DC too until then, getting work). The people I know who play the same parts I play nonunion work constantly in that market, and whereas I get paid more WHEN I work, it's a lot harder to get that work.

That's my soapbox, and I have never heard anyone who is informed on the topic say anything to contradict it. You can always get Taft-Hartleyed into something and not join, you can never un-join unless you're quitting the biz for good.

Sorry! Meant to put that that was my reply to Matthew's question!

Hey Sam,

With everything you said in your response to the question above what do you think the future holds for the entertainment industry, at least when dealing with films and actors?

PS. Ellen thanks for the help.

There are no middle class actors anymore. Changes have gradually eroded the middle actors. Like SAM says...reality TV, runaway production(a HUGE problem that was allowed to get out of hand and now it's too late)as well as producers just plain getting cheap and refusing to pay quotes and saying here you get scale plus ten take it or leave it.
I left the biz because of this reason. I have great training(insane training, big guns/original Group Theater members, etc.) decent credits, and was never able to make a living.
I had one mid level agent tell me that in days gone by she could have kept a good character guy like me busy ALL THE TIME. That conversation was maybe ten years ago.
An old timer told me that it used to be that you could do a couple of guest spots and a commercial for the year, and that was enough money to live on and pay for a mortgage for the entire year! Now, guest spots go to former series regs, and not for big money either.

The people at the top have always done fine, but for the rest of us it is tough. The divide is longer and wider than it used to be, and there is not much reason to believe that things are going to change significantly in the near future.

By the way, I'm not being bitter, I'm stating the simple truth as I see it. I'm not telling anybody to give up, but know what you are facing and have a Plan B.
Don't let life pass you by...

Hey Matthew--glad to help. Seriously, I'm actually pro-union--they do do good things when you're ready for them. But you'll know when you're ready because you won't be able to avoid joining then!

Sidebar--DC is really a great place to start out. I would get all the experience you can there; there are great theatres (Shakespeare, Arena, Studio etc) and the system actually works really well without dragging agents and other complications into it. Are you thinking of making a leap to LA or NY any time soon?

LA and NY are definitely in my 5 year plan. I have a good "Day" job that enables me to afford to attend classes and so forth and pursue theatre in the evening. It's funny you say that about DC because in my workshop this girl was complaining alot about how there is nothing in dc, and I thought she was crazy. I just got cast in a shakespeare troupe and basically I'm just trying to get some solid experience, training and the unions out of the way before I make the leap out there. I'm a pretty fast mover so we'll see what happens. How's NY? you were in dc originally? when did you move?

Matthew--I was in DC for 2 years after school (I went to GW). I actually had a really awful college experience in terms of acting, but I figured I'd do the League Auditions and if nothing came of it, that would be that and I'd be a costumer. I ended up getting called in to Ford's from that, and at the time if you were over 18 for any show there but A Christmas Carol you were a must-join. I actually tried to not join by failing to fill out my paperwork, and that didn't fly. So once I didn't have any jobs in the pipe line I moved up to NY. And I will say it's rough here, particularly without representation. I have gotten callbacks but not actually worked in two years, which is almost embarrassing at this point--I'm pretty much not-ok with that part of it. BUT I've also worked really hard at my training here, which would never have happened if I hadn't been forced into being union so early. So the fact that I know I'm improving (my voice teacher here is amazing and I'm constantly taking some acting class or other) is a plus. I honestly don't take anything for granted here.

That said, congratulations on getting into a Shakespeare troupe--that's awesome to have a group of people that you can collaborate with for an extended period. I think DC has some solid work going on in general. Also the one thing I will say is I never did see anything in DC that was actually BAD, but I did see one show in NY that was so bad I was praying to be struck down if it didn't end. Painful.

Just to chime in about DC a bit - I've been here for 4 years (from Chicago), and it is a great town with a wonderful theatre scene. One of the reasons I love it so much here is that between theatre, teaching, on-camera, and all of the books-on-tape work available, it is actually possible to have a career and a home. I travel out of town to work maybe once a season, which is very unlike my experience in Chicago.

One thing I have noticed, however, is that as DC's reputation is becoming more widely known, actors are moving here and expecting it to be easy, and then getting frustrated when they aren't booking within a couple of months. It's just as competitive as anywhere else. There are lots of really talented actors here, and you have to hustle as much as you would anywhere else.

SAM: interesting what you say about the shrinking middle class actor -- it's a phenomenon that's been happening in many industries. The middle class has been shrinking across the board since the 1980s.

Been here in the DC area (while DD performs) for the past month. Coming from NY, I was really surprised by the vibrant theater, cabaret, and music scene.
Many of the people I have met at the performances are true 'show birds' flying (actually taking the Bolt bus) up to Broadway to see shows and checking out everything local. They are very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. It has been a great experience!
I DC thread would be great -- unless you want to keep the secret...